Championing Student-Focused Policies

Tennessee’s foundational education policies over the last 20 years have led to significant advances in student achievement. This series highlights research-backed policies that are essential pillars of support in helping students achieve career and life success.

Tennesseans began taking bold steps to transform public education to better prepare students for success in 2007. Tennessee must maintain that commitment to innovation and continue to put student needs first in order to prepare every student for success from the day they start school to the day they start a career.

Tennessee’s commitment to high academic standards, aligned assessments, and to using data to support improved student outcomes moved our state from the bottom of the pack nationally in education outcomes to one of the fastest growing in the country. We should remain committed to high expectations through rigorous academic standards and aligned assessments that provide essential data about student achievement and growth.

Tennessee’s commitment to annual teacher evaluations and providing educators with high-quality feedback has led to more effective instruction and significant advances in student achievement. Tennessee should preserve its evaluation system and aim to bolster and strengthen it so that educators continue receiving high-quality feedback that will, in turn, benefit all students.

Economic development in Tennessee has increased career opportunities, but we need to ensure students are earning degrees and credentials that prepare them for those jobs and enable them to benefit from this economic opportunity. This report offers a vision for measuring what success looks like for Tennessee students entering the workforce.

SCORE is committed to student success from kindergarten through career. This report provides a snapshot of data across postsecondary preparation, persistence, and success as a means of highlighting key postsecondary metrics and identifying areas of improvement for better supporting students through the Tennessee public education system. Data and data insights specific to each institution and postsecondary sector are provided in the pages that follow. Due to small sample sizes in some cases, there may be fluctuations in year-over-year comparisons.

Access to highly effective teachers is essential for student achievement. However, growing evidence suggests students have unreliable and inequitable access to effective educators, with many school districts reporting high levels of teacher vacancies. This series examines the challenges facing Tennessee’s educator labor market and highlights innovative practices to strengthen it.

Tennessee is a leader in piloting and scaling efforts to strengthen student success. Foundational strategies have been grounded in high expectations for educators, schools, and students – from the time students enter the classroom to the time they receive a degree or credential. This work is yielding demonstrated results for students. However, while progress has been made, it is clear more needs to be done. Tennessee’s next challenge is to expand its vision for education so that each student not only has the opportunity to succeed in school but also has the opportunity to be prepared for a career that enables economic independence.